I Belong

**Visit Tynga’s Reviews today for her Sleeping Beauty Fantastic Fable from Caridad Pineiro & a chance to win THE LOST**

Kelly Gay is here today to kick-off the last week of our Fantastic Fables event. If you haven’t started her Charlie Madigan urban fantasy series yet, then you should. I love everything about this series. There’s a kick-ass heroine, a sexy Siren, Greek Mythology, and killer worldbuilding. Charlie’s latest adventure continues with The Hour of Dust and Ashes, which is available tomorrow from Pocket Books. Dying to read the next installment in this series? Thanks to Kelly, one of you who comments on this post will win a copy of the book! See details below.

Hi Everyone! When Angela asked me to take part in the Fantastic Fables event, I thought what a cool idea. I had visions of wondrous fairytales where my characters from the Charlie Madigan series all play starring roles. Well, my vision didn’t exactly pan out the way I planned. In fact, it took a wild left turn—a sudden, grab-the-oh-shit-handle, kind of turn. See, this is what happens when the Revenant, Rex, decides to come out and play. You never know what he’s gonna do or say. And he pretty much swaggered right into my brain, patted me on the shoulder, grinned a cocky grin, and said, “I got this.” And this, if you know Rex, is not exactly a comforting statement…

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

Rex’s version

You ready for The Three Little Pigs to get Rex-i-fied? I thought so. Ah. I love the sound of applause…

First up. Main character. Wolves are predators, kick-ass and beautiful as we all know. Naturally, I’ll play the wolf. Big. Bad. Wolf. *grins*

My pack consists of Emma, wolf pup of ultimate cuteness, and Charlie (who might very well contest my place as alpha, but this is my tale so she can suck it up and deal with her role as beta, omega, theta, potato, or whatever the hell you call it).

You all know the story: Each pig builds a house, the first of straw, the second of wood, and the third of brick. The first two are blown down and the pigs run from house to house until they reach the brick one (or the wolf eats the first two pigs, depending on what version you read). But let me stop right here and say, ‘Really, piggies? Really? Straw and sticks. C’mon’.

As wolf in charge, the piggies in my tale aren’t piggies at all, but certain folks I’d like to, for different reasons, I guess you could say . . . target.

Let me introduce you to my Three Little Piggies:

1) Hank – No surprise here, right? He’s been making eyeballs at Charlie, trying to reel her in with this whole: I’m-a-big-bad-siren-warrior song and dance. Dude. Please. Whatever affects Charlie affects Em, and yeah, I might not be Daddy in the real sense of the word, but I take my responsibilities as ‘Revenant in Daddy’s body’ seriously. It’s my duty to give the siren a hard time. That’s why you get . . . straw, sucka!

And to keep up with the times and my version extraordinaire, Hank would have a house made of modeling clay, mirrors, and hair gel, and it’d reek of girly herbs and cologne. No problem to take this big boy down. (And let’s face it; no one should be prettier than me in this picture.) One down, two to go…

2) Tennin – Grigori Tennin. Jinn tribal boss. Runs the biggest crime syndicate in Underground. He pissed me off and now he’s gonna pay. He thinks he’s the Big Shit, but he has nothing on me. I’ve been roaming and experiencing life for thousands of years. Thousands. I know ways to kill a being that would make ole GT release his bladder and eyes pop out of his bald head.

GT would have a house made of timber beams with black tar mortar, which I’d take down in a nanosecond. Like flicking lint off my sleeve, people. My beef with him runs deep, deeper than anyone knows, but in the here and now, I’d blow his house down just for being a monumental dickhead. He’s also a power hungry, psycho with an obsession to take down Charlie and everything I’m starting to hold dear. So, yeah, the boss just got fired. Gone. Adios. See ya. Two down, one to go…

3) Sian – Sian, the Timid. Sian the human/jinn hybrid with the smooth gray skin, hair that falls in a sheet of glossy white, and a body that won’t quit. I forgive her for being GT’s daughter. Not her fault. This last little piggy on my list lives in a place that, for some ungodly reason, I cannot breach. I can’t even sneak a phone call past her defenses. Girl, why won’t you take my calls? What the hell is up with that? I’m good-looking—better than good-looking, if you want to know the truth.

Sian hides behind that damn wall of hers, locked up so tight that not even an army of Adonai could break. And like that last little piggy who out-smarted the wolf, Sian thinks she’s won. But, you know, wolves are single minded when it comes to their prey and I do have a plan… This tale is far from over.

So, children, the moral of this story (which is way better than the original) is that Rex-wolf always wins and morals are for ding-dongs. In other words: Big. Bad. Wolf. *grins*

I’m just your average bookworm who likes to spend an embarrassing amount of time in make-believe places.

I’ve had many jobs from construction (I can drive a backhoe, tar and shingle a roof, and frame out a house) to waiting on tables, threading film through a projector, managing horse farms, and selling men’s underwear (a talent, I tell you!).

In the writing world, I’m a 2010 double RITA finalist, a three-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, and a recipient of an NC Arts Council Fellowship grant in Literature.

Protecting Atlanta from the off-world criminals of Underground is tough enough, but now Detective Charlie Madigan and her siren partner, Hank, learn that the addicts of the offworld drug ash have begun taking their own lives. Ash makes humans the perfect vessels for possession, and something or someone is leading them to their deaths. Charlie is desperate to save her addicted sister, Bryn, from a similar fate. As New Year’s Eve approaches and time runs out, Charlie makes a deadly bargain with an ancient race of beings and embarks on a dangerous journey into hellish Charbydon with Hank and the Revenant Rex to save Bryn and make it back before it’s too late. Only, for one of them, coming home means facing a fate worse than death. . . .

*NOT an entry* I already won this book from another blog contest I just wanted to tell Kelly how much I *luv, luv, luv* this series and I can’t wait to get the 3rd book! I also loved this post and wanted to say thanks soo much for giving us starved for more Charlie World a new tidbit!

I honestly don’t know why I haven’t read this series yet. I’ve seen it everywhere and all likes on it. I think it sounds great and I’d love to get to know Rex better…lol. I think we all live in the fairy tale land, your not the only one I love authors and how they can take us away from reality for a little while. Please count me in for this book. Thanks
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Thanks for the fable – it was awesome. I know its weird but it reminded me of once in speech class when we had to be characters in the Three Little Pigs and we had to act out a story. So it was after the houses were blown in and I was the Wolf’s defense as to whether he was guilty or not. Fun times. Thanks for the giveaway chance! tlabunski **at>>) gmail
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